Israelis held one last major rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of what has been described as the most important election in the country’s history.
Meanwhile, the death toll rose following Friday’s attack on a church in Jordan. And an Iranian military commander said his country would not allow U.S. warships into the Persian Gulf as concerns grow about a return to all-out war.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. Read our full coverage here.
Thousands gather in Tel Aviv days before Israeli elections
A large crowd gathered for a final protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government ahead of Tuesday’s close elections.
The crowd heard calls for the creation of a commission of inquiry into the security failures that led to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza. Netanyahu has refused such an investigation.
Netanyahu’s main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, attended the rally which echoed weekly rallies once held to call for the release of hostages taken to Gaza. All the hostages or their remains were eventually released, but Netanyahu was accused of delaying deals to release them sooner.
Trump eyes more strikes or deal with Iran
US President Donald Trump bristled when asked how close he was to a possible attack on Iran. He recently said on social media that he would not strike Iran again before the November 3 midterm elections.
“Do you really think I’m going to tell you if I’m going to do it?” Trump responded. “And there’s a possibility that I will. There’s also a possibility that we’ll have a nice, big, nice deal.”
Trump reiterated his assertion that Iran wants to make a deal, “but the issue is, will the deal be respected?” »
Iranian president accuses US of disrupting negotiations
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused Washington of disrupting negotiations aimed at ending the war, but said he remained convinced that “we have to go and finish it.”
In comments broadcast on state television, he said Iran’s supreme leader had ordered Iranian officials “to go and conclude (the deal)” but that “these scoundrels violated the rules of the game. We were in talks and they disrupted them.”
Concern is growing in Iran and elsewhere that the United States or Israel may resume attacks before or just after Tuesday’s elections in Israel or the midterm elections in the United States.
Israel makes arrests in Hebron after attack
Israeli forces carried out arrests and demolitions in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, a day after two Palestinian gunmen killed two soldiers and injured three others.
Up to 300 families have left Deir Baha and two adjacent neighborhoods, according to a count by the Hebron municipality. The Israeli military did not respond to questions about the operation. On Friday, she said her forces had begun “carrying out precise, targeted and thorough searches” in the area from which the gunmen were operating.
Death toll from church attacks in Jordan rises to 9
A ninth person has died after gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church in Jordan, state television reported. More than two dozen people were being treated in hospitals.
Gunmen opened fire on a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, south of the Jordanian capital Amman, on Friday. Karak is home to a minority Christian population.
Airstrikes kill 15 in Yemen, including a child
Strikes killed 11 people, including four children, in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, according to the health ministry run by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. And an airstrike hit homes in Hodeida province, killing at least four people, health authorities said.
The Houthis have blamed neighboring Saudi Arabia, which supports forces fighting the rebels. Saudi Arabia did not respond to a request for comment. The Associated Press could not independently verify these claims.
At least two explosions were then heard near the international airport in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized government. The Houthis’ military spokesman said a military camp and a naval base had been targeted. The government’s Interior Ministry said the Houthis attacked the coast guard headquarters at their compound with two ballistic missiles.
The Saudi-led coalition earlier said it had intercepted three ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis towards the Saudi capital, Riyadh, as well as the cities of Taif and Yanbu.
UAE closes beaches after oil spill caused by oil tanker
The United Arab Emirates has closed its beaches after an oil spill caused by an oil tanker. The spill hit beaches in Umm Al Quwain, one of the seven emirates making up the federation, and clean-up efforts are underway, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said.
The ministry said the spill posed no health risk, but did not provide details on its scale. It came two weeks after Iran’s state television channel reported that an oil tanker hit a naval mine and caught fire while trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz without coordination with Tehran.
Iran says it will not allow US warships into the Persian Gulf
An Iranian military commander said Iran would not allow US warships to enter the Persian Gulf or approach Iranian territorial waters, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Gen. Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces and commander of its joint military command, also warned Trump that U.S. forces would never return to the Strait of Hormuz.
US reissues Middle East travel warnings amid Houthi threats
The State Department has reissued travel advisories for Americans visiting or traveling to the Middle East, citing threats posed by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are covered by the warnings and have appeared in previous travel alerts since the start of the Iran war.
The department reduced staffing at four U.S. embassies in the Middle East after receiving reports that Iran had stepped up efforts to target U.S. personnel.
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